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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
G8 energy chiefs meet as oil soars
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Good morning, barely
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 11:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  With that headline I thought it would be a scantilly clad.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 06/08/2008 12:17 Comments || Top||

#2  And under the wire, under the wire, under the wire, it's FredMan! FredMan!

Which would be a damn fine name for a hoss.
Posted by: George Smiley || 06/08/2008 13:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Miss Shannon looks a lot like many of my cousins - the more mischevious ones.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/08/2008 13:43 Comments || Top||

#4  She be purty.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 06/08/2008 16:12 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Pak engineer kidnapped in Afghanistan
Gunmen on Saturday kidnapped a Pakistani engineer travelling on a road near Kandahar in insurgency-hit southern Afghanistan, a police commander has said. “A Pakistani engineer was kidnapped on the road between Kandahar city and Gereshk,” police chief Saqeb Syed Agha told AFP. The engineer, employed by an Afghan road construction company, was abducted after the gunmen opened fire and injured his driver,” Sayed said. “We have launched an operation to track the kidnappers and free the Pakistani national,” he added. The police commander refused to comment on who may have been responsible for the kidnapping.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:10 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Tracking the Coalition’s Afghan spring offensive
Posted by: 3dc || 06/08/2008 00:59 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Every piece of land taken from the Talis, will be returned to them by Karzai`s clowns. This has been going on for 4 years.
Posted by: McZoid || 06/08/2008 3:31 Comments || Top||

#2  McZ - the 4-5000 Talib who were killed this year only got a very small piece of land returned to them.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/08/2008 7:27 Comments || Top||


Baitullah Mehsud's fighters killed in Afghanistan
by Bill Roggio
Bill actually didn't kill them himself, he's just reporting ...
As the Pakistani government continues to push negotiations with Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, 18 of his fighters were killed while fighting Afghan and Coalition forces inside Afghanistan. The 18 fighters were among dozens of Pakistanis killed, an anonymous Taliban commander told The News. "They were staying in various houses when someone informed the US forces about their presence. The US planes bombarded their positions, killing most of them."

The Taliban source said the Mehsud fighters were killed in Helmand province. "Dozens of Mehsud tribal militants, led by Commander Khan Ghafoor, had gone to Afghanistan to fight against the US-led forces," The News reported.

But there were no reports of major clashes in Helmand province on June 5. The US military reported "several" Taliban were killed and five detained during a targeted raid and airstrike in the Kajaki district.

There was a major engagement reported on June 5 in Paktika province, which borders South Waziristan in Pakistan. Between 20 and 32 Taliban were killed in a US airstrike. Most of those killed in the airstrike "were foreign fighters, including Pakistanis and Central Asians," The Associated Press reported.

The bodies of the dead Pakistani Taliban are being repatriated to South Waziristan, the Taliban commander said. The 18 fighters were from the town of Makeen in South Waziristan. Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, sheltered in a safe house in Makeen at the end of December 2008 after claiming credit for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

The Pakistani government is currently negotiation a peace agreement with Baitullah, who has been behind suicide attacks, major fighting with the Pakistani military, and the kidnapping, murder and captured of soldiers and government officials. The draft of the peace agreement does not contain a clause that prevents the Taliban from fighting inside Afghanistan, according to the current copy obtained by the Daily Times. "Mehsud tribes say they cannot include this point in the agreement since they have no common border with Afghanistan, but our allies (in war on terror) say this clause must be included," Owais Ahmed Ghani, the governor of the Northwest Frontier Province said.

The peace agreement is unenforceable, as the Pakistani military is withdrawing from South Waziristan. The government and the Taliban signed a similar agreement in September 2006, but the Taliban immediately violate the accord.

This year, the government signed peace deals in Swat, Bajaur, Malakand, and Mohmand. Negotiations are underway in Kohat and Mardan.
Posted by: 3dc || 06/08/2008 00:54 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Pakistani government is currently negotiation a peace agreement with Baitullah

This is truly amazing, considering that prior to the election, the various parties had promised to bring Bhutto's killers to justice. So much for that election promise, eh?
Posted by: Varmint Glineth3087 || 06/08/2008 12:20 Comments || Top||

#2  "Bill actually didn't kill them himself, he's just reporting..." I do not know about that, Bill is very crafty, wink, wink.
Posted by: steven || 06/08/2008 17:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Repatriated to Pakistan - hopefully in all-natural, pork casing sausage format...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/08/2008 20:40 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Local BBC journalist killed in Somalia
Suspected Islamist insurgents shot dead a local journalist working for the BBC in southern Somalia on Saturday, witnesses said. Residents said the gunmen confronted the journalist outside his home in the port of Kismayu. "They shot him in the ribs and stomach. He was rushed to hospital but died shortly before he could receive a blood transfusion that was being prepared," said local man Aden Osman.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts

#1  That's toooo bad.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2008 5:12 Comments || Top||

#2  The BBC will no doubt blame Bush for this....
Posted by: Punky Elmineling4042 || 06/08/2008 9:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Quagmire!
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 06/08/2008 10:29 Comments || Top||

#4  In another 6 or 7 years, journalists will begin to realize that Islam is not the religion of peace.
Posted by: wxjames || 06/08/2008 13:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Those reporters who are left alive to think about it.(If any)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/08/2008 14:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Quagmire!
That's not funny, that's sick!


No... wait, on further review, it is funny.
Posted by: George Smiley || 06/08/2008 19:56 Comments || Top||


Death toll rises to 16 in Mogadishu violence
Eight more people died in Somalia's capital on Saturday, residents said, bringing the death toll in Mogadishu from two days of violence to 16.

The rubble-strewn city had been relatively peaceful this week during tentative U.N. peace talks in Djibouti between the interim government and opposition figures based in Eritrea. But the calm was shattered on Friday when at least eight people were killed, and locals said eight more died on Saturday.

Witness Ismail Hussain said Ethiopian troops supporting the government shot dead three students in Waberi district. "They were in school uniform but carried no books. I think the soldiers suspected them (of being insurgents)," he said.

Elsewhere, residents said five people, including two government troops, died overnight in a fierce battle in northern Mogadishu's Industrial Area. "Government forces came early this morning and took two of the dead, who were in uniform. The other three wore ordinary clothes and are unidentified," local resident Fatuma Osman said.

In Qashadeere, a town in central Somalia, residents said another government soldier was killed by unknown assailants.

There was little progress at this week's discussions in Djibouti, with opposition officials demanding Ethiopian troops leave Somalia before face-to-face negotiations could take place.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:11 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Africa Subsaharan
Mali army says kills 20 Tuareg rebels in clashes
Mali said its army killed at least 20 Tuareg rebels near the Algerian border this week in the heaviest fighting since a rebel assault last month that blew apart the latest accord to end a growing revolt in the Sahara.

The government overhauled its military leadership on Thursday after fighting subsided, promoting to overall armed forces chief the head of the land army, who colleagues say has spent the last few months in the north battling nomadic rebels.

"After heavy fighting that lasted until Wednesday June 4, 2008, the toll is as follows: on the side of the armed bandits, 20 confirmed dead, several wounded including three seriously," the Defence Ministry said in a statement late on Friday.

Other rebels were taken prisoner, the ministry said.

The army, it said, suffered "one lightly injured, with no loss of human life". When rebels attacked an army garrison in May, the army said 17 rebels and 15 soldiers were killed.

"This time there were no lives lost on the army's side because it was the army which went on the offensive. The army will no longer allow itself to be taken by surprise," a military official told Reuters on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

"We are patrolling and whenever we discover rebel positions we bombard them. One time we surprised them while they were cooking up food near a waterhole and attacked them, just as we surprised them when they had a rendez-vous with some Algerians to receive an ammunition convoy," he said.

Three days of fighting began on Monday when fighters loyal to Tuareg rebel leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga attacked an army supply convoy travelling from the northeastern town of Kidal to Tin-Zaouatene on the Algerian border, the Defence Ministry said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Bomb explodes in Multan, no casualties
A bomb blast was reported in Sadaat Colony on Saturday, but no casualties have been reported, police have said. Gulgasht Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Muhammad Ashraf told APP that a youth named as Rauf Yousuf was making a bomb when it exploded. Yousaf was injured in the blast although he later fled, the DSP added. Additional Senior Superintendent of Police Fayaz Khan Sunbal told reporters that Yousaf had links with a banned outfit. He said no arrests had been made, but that Yousaf’s uncle, Muharram Khan, and his brother, Abdul Rauf, were being questioned. Police sources said Yousaf had plans to target the lawyers’ proposed long march, starting on June 10, adding that they had also obtained “useful information” from Yousaf’s personal computer. Muharram Khan told Online that Yousaf had been a member of a banned outfit, but “he has come back now and is preparing for his FSc examination”.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:10 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


'US drones violate Pakistan airspace'
Snip, duplicate :-)
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:10 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Once these UAVs get stealthy enough, there won't be anymore violations of airspace, only explosions with no discernable explanation.
Posted by: Uneagum McCoy7470 || 06/08/2008 8:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Would they feel better if the American painted moons on the underside? If these savages won't honor borders, why the hell should we? I say never come back with any spare ammo.
Posted by: ed || 06/08/2008 8:13 Comments || Top||

#3  How about we move the border to match the airspace? Since it's obvious Islamabad doesn't control the ground underneath, it's open to an adjustment.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/08/2008 8:54 Comments || Top||

#4  I believe the border isn't actually fixed, Procopius. The treaty that Britain made with the locals during the Raj period was, like the one for Hong Kong, not for forever, and Pakistan inherited that. Or at least that's how I understand some of the things john frum has posted.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2008 11:55 Comments || Top||

#5  'US drones violate Pakistan airspace'

Of COURSE they do! Just as the NVA and the Viet Cong used Laos and Cambodia as "safe havens", the talibunnies are using the NW Frontier Provinces as "safe havens". I'm just waiting for the first ARCLIGHT strike down through Miranshah or Wana, then I'll know for certain we're involved in "another Vietnam". Only this time, I hope to he$$ that Congress won't snatch our victory from us. My hopes for that are very minimal, however.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/08/2008 13:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Here I thought Robert Byrd was sickly.
Posted by: George Smiley || 06/08/2008 19:57 Comments || Top||

#7  #3 How about we move the border to match the airspace? Since it's obvious Islamabad doesn't control the ground underneath, it's open to an adjustment.

You know, it occurs to me that Afghanistan's problems won't be made better by giving them more Pashtun.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 06/08/2008 20:18 Comments || Top||

#8  US drones violate Pakistan airspace

Still, better than getting violated by a hellfire.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/08/2008 21:58 Comments || Top||


Perv does hand-wave, still sez he's not going peaceful-like
ISLAMABAD — President Pervez Musharraf has ruled out resignation “under present circumstances” adding that he is not thinking of going abroad in exile. “I will take a decision if at any time I felt that I cannot contribute anything of value to the country,” Musharraf told senior journalists in first interaction with media since February 18 elections.

He said he is an elected president and can be removed only through constitutional means by two-thirds majority of the Parliament. He would accept whatever the parliament decides within parameters of the constitution.
Not that Perv has ever seen the constitution carved in stone ...
Expressing his concern over current down-turn in economy, Musharraf emphasised the need for urgent actions to stem the rot. He said the country is passing through a critical phase. "Unless some emergency measures are taken to stop the slide, I am visualising a horrific future for the country.”

In this context he reverted back to the question of quitting and said if the country was set on this disastrous path, “I would not like to preside over the downfall of Pakistan.”

On the Constitution Package that is aiming at clipping presidential powers, Musharraf reiterated that the parliament being sovereign it could make constitutional changes. “However, I would not like to be made a useless vegetable,” he observed adding that he would then like to play golf than stay as president.
He could join Kimmie, see which of them gets more holes-in-one ...
Musharraf defended all his actions and appeared to be shifting the blame of economic slide to the newly elected government and partly on international factors including rise in oil prices. He said till last year the fundamentals of the economy were sound and the same situation persists even today. It was up to the new government to take measures to overcome fresh challenges, he said while extending his full support to the prime minister in this endeavour.
Because Paki-land was an economic juggernaut until the last election ...
He denied that he had sacked sixty judges. He said these judges did not take oath under the new Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) he promulgated after imposition of emergency and were thus out of job.
Real important distinction, there, Perv, seeeing it was you who put the PCO through.
If the parliament reinstates them through two-thirds majority he would accept that decision, Musharraf said but did not explain how the orders of one man to dismiss judges needed two-thirds majority of the parliament to undo them. He also defended the emergency and repeated his argument that the judiciary had set itself in confrontation with other institutions which compelled him to impose the emergency.
Yup, made him do it, they did ...
Musharraf said terrorism and economic challenges were two major areas of concern which needed very delicate handling. Nobody should play politics with these two problems otherwise consequences would be disastrous.

He emphasised the need for reconciliation instead of confrontation. He told a questioner that he would not mind meeting even Nawaz Sharif but reminded the journalists that Sharif is using foul language and inciting people against him.
Hurt his feelings ...
Asked if he would use Article 58-2b to dissolve the assembly if the situation went out of control, Musharraf said: “I am not an unstable person to do that.”
But he could be forced to do it, no doubt, those hurt feelings could bubble over any time ...
About the demand of his trial by ex-servicemen including retired general Gulzar Kayani, Musharraf said this group was violating “military ethos, culture and discipline”. He said he could expose each one of them but would not indulge in this practice. It was up to the army chief to ensure that army's discipline and ethos is not violated.
And Perv's not the army chief any longer, and the new army chief has been awful quiet lately ...
Posted by: Steve White || 06/08/2008 00:39 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Musharraf emphasised the need for urgent actions to stem the rot. He said the country is passing through a critical phase. "Unless some emergency measures are taken to stop the slide, I am visualising a horrific future for the country.”

NO!.... No more money Perv, you f'n Leach... Now go get a Job...... NO!.... A REAL JOB!
Posted by: RD || 06/08/2008 4:16 Comments || Top||

#2  He's gonna needa hairnet dawg.
Posted by: George Smiley || 06/08/2008 13:35 Comments || Top||

#3  He said he is an elected president and can be removed only through constitutional means

Wrong, Idiot.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/08/2008 14:16 Comments || Top||


Pak troops fire at Indian post
JAMMU: In yet another incident of unprovoked cross-border firing, Pakistani troops targeted second battalion of Eighth Gurkha Rifles at the Krnati post along the Line of Control in Poonch district's Mendhar area, official sources said in Jammu.

Sources also said intermittent firing was reported for more than an hour at the post on Thursday. They said the Gurkhas returned the fire without suffering any casualty. Army spokesperson Lt Col S D Goswami, however, refused to comment on the latest ceasefire violation.

Pakistani troops had resorted to firing at Regal in Samba, Salhutri in Mendhar and Tangdhar in Kupwara sector in violation of ceasefire agreement.
Posted by: john frum || 06/08/2008 00:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Rule No. 1 on firing at Gurkhas -

DO NOT FIRE AT GURKHAS!

And this is the army which cannot engage in the FATA?
Posted by: Harcourt Jush7795 || 06/08/2008 0:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Wonder how Indians feel about "counter-terrorism" training/funding Paks receive from USA?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2008 5:16 Comments || Top||

#3  I think the Pak army wants to provoke an incident that will destroy the ceasefire.

The ISI has restarted pro-"Khalistan" activities with Sikh terrorists being funded and trained. They seek to revive the militancy in the Indian Punjab with Kashmiri groups acting in concert with "Khalistani" ones.

Jihadi infiltration across the LOC is up, as are attacks.

Pak army chief Kayani has so far refused to have the Pak army trained and equipped in counter-insurgency and used on the western border with Afghanistan. They remain on the eastern border with India, where they provide the backup that the various terrorist groups require.

Pakistan's nuclear weapons provide the space for this terrorism to continue, dissuading any conventional Indian retaliation for attacks by Pakistan's proxies.
Posted by: john frum || 06/08/2008 7:24 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd like to send the Gurkas into FATA and let
them get a crack at the foreign and PakiWaki
flotsam floating around that place.
Posted by: Punky Elmineling4042 || 06/08/2008 9:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Wonder how Indians feel about "counter-terrorism" training/funding Paks receive from USA?

Likely similar to the way we feel about Israeli spies.
Posted by: George Smiley || 06/08/2008 13:37 Comments || Top||

#6  Likely similar to the way we feel about Israeli spies.

Another tenant to 'Burg trailer park.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2008 14:36 Comments || Top||

#7  It's a mobile home not a trailer.
Posted by: George Smiley || 06/08/2008 17:49 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Basra Special Groupie Bagged in Baghdad
Coalition forces capture Basrah-based Special Groups criminal in Baghdad
BAGHDAD – Coalition forces captured a suspected Basrah-based Special Groups criminal and his associate late Saturday night during operations in the Rusafa district of Baghdad.

Acting on intelligence
Seems to be a lot more intelligence in Iraq these days.
from captured Special Groups members, Coalition forces raided the hideout of the suspected Special Groups criminal, where he and his associate were captured without incident.

The wanted man is alleged to be a commander of an assassination squad in Basrah, an arms dealer with connections to Iran, and a document counterfeiter.
Sounds like a reasonably important catch.
This last offense was reportedly done in his role as one of a handful of Special Groups criminals who arranges transportation of criminals into Iran for training, and back into Iraq.

“Captured Special Groups members are providing actionable intelligence that Iraqi Security and Coalition forces are using to defeat these criminals,” said U.S. Army Capt. Charles Calio, MNF-I spokesperson. “By removing Special Groups criminals’ resources and those who supply them, they can no longer target innocent Iraqis.”
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/08/2008 09:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  “Captured Special Groups members are providing actionable intelligence ...

Somehow that sounds...'uncomfortable'.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/08/2008 12:12 Comments || Top||

#2  From the JPost:
"US soldiers, acting on intelligence from other Shi'ite militiamen already in custody, captured the Basra-based "special groups" leader late Saturday at a hideout in eastern Baghdad, according to a military statement.

"The wanted man is alleged to be a commander of an assassination squad in Basra, an arms dealer with connections to Iran and a document counterfeiter," the statement said.

He also arranges transportation of criminals into Iran for training, and then back into Iraq, it said. One of the leader's aides was also arrested without incident.
Posted by: Frank G || 06/08/2008 19:05 Comments || Top||


Seizures in Iraq reveal militia's arsenal
BAGHDAD - Iraqi troops sweeping through the Baghdad stronghold of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have found large quantities of weapons, including helicopter missiles and an anti-aircraft gun, the U.S military said on Saturday.

Some 10,000 Iraqi government troops entered the sprawling slum of Sadr City unopposed on May 20 under a truce between Sadr's supporters and ruling Shia political parties that ended weeks of fighting in which hundreds were killed.

A U.S. military statement itemising the weapons seized in the last three weeks gave the first real glimpse of the formidable arsenal that Sadr's feared Mehdi Army militia has been building up. The statement said government forces had seized 100 caches of weapons, including 295 mortar rounds, 367 AK-47s, 109 anti-tank mines, 39 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, an anti-aircraft gun, six helicopter rockets, sniper rifles, improvised explosive devices, 123 grenades and artillery shells.

Under the truce agreed earlier in May, the Mehdi Army agreed to lay down their weapons and allow Iraqi forces to enter the slum. The militia, while vowing not to hand over their heavy weapons, has run melted away. U.S. military officials say the Mehdi Army, which staged two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004, fuelled sectarian violence between majority Shia Muslims and Sunni Arabs in 2006 and 2007 that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/08/2008 00:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mucho INFORMANTS; gotta love them!
Posted by: McZoid || 06/08/2008 3:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Tip. Of. The. Iceberg.
Posted by: Theper Black7347 || 06/08/2008 10:16 Comments || Top||

#3  A good thing they were removed. Having large weapons about is not safe for children and other living things. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2008 12:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Always the feminine touch.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 06/08/2008 12:04 Comments || Top||

#5  I think that if Sadr ever comes 'home', he's going to find his "army" is composed of 3 old men in their 70's with no teeth, and a pre-teen with a missing leg. Couldn't happen to a more deserving leech.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/08/2008 14:01 Comments || Top||


Car bombings in Baghdad leave at least 6 dead
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb and another car packed with explosives targeted Iraqi police patrols on opposite sides of Baghdad, killing at least six people, police said. The suicide attacker rammed into a police patrol mid-afternoon in Nisoor Square on the capital's west side, killing a civilian and a policeman, police said Saturday. Another five people were wounded.

The other explosion took place nearly simultaneously across town at a crowded bus stop where passengers were lining up to catch rides to eastern Shiite neighborhoods, though police said the target was the passing convoy of a top Iraqi police general. Four people were killed and 18 wounded, Brig. Gen. Nazar Majeed among them, said an officer on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media. Three of the dead were policemen, he said.

The area includes shops that sell spare auto parts and tires, and is frequently used as a shortcut for Interior Ministry convoys trying to avoid traffic jams on another main street leading to government buildings, the officer said.

Tareq Salman, who owns a tea stall nearby, said he heard a huge explosion and then saw smoke spewing from the bus station. “I saw several passengers running and several minibuses on fire. I saw wounded men screaming for help and police cars taking some seriously wounded to the hospital," 54-year-old Salman said. “There were blood stains and one burned body."

“Most of my tea cups were broken and some car parts shops were damaged," he said.
Posted by: || 06/08/2008 00:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


US troops kill 4 suspects near Mosul
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military says it has killed four suspects, captured five others and destroyed two safehouses belonging to militants in northern Iraq. A statement from the military says American soldiers called in airstrikes and killed the four men Saturday after coming under small-arms fire southwest of Mosul. They also destroyed two buildings filled with weapons, ammunition and graffiti indicating they were used for foreign militants.

It also says five men were captured in a separate raid in Mosul. Two of them are accused of conspiring with senior al-Qaida in Iraq leaders in the city.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/08/2008 00:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas says four members arrested by pro-Abbas forces
(Xinhua) -- The Islamic Hamas movement denounced Saturday that its four members were arrested by Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah in the West Bank.

Hamas said in a statement sent to the press that the detentions took place in Bethlehem, Tulkarm and Qalqilya, which were carried out by the forces loyal to President Abbas. Two of Hamas supporters were taken from the street, one was arrested after being summoned to a security office and the fourth was arrested from his house, the statement explained.

The detentions occurred as Hamas and Fatah are closer to dialogue than any time as Abbas said he was ready while Hamas welcomes his readiness for talks. The crack down against Hamas members in the West Bank was launched a year ago in response to Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip after it routed pro-Abbas forces.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Israeli tank shells on eastern Gaza kills Hamas militant
(Xinhua) -- A militant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was killed and two others wounded on Saturday night by an Israeli tank shells which was fired at Sheja'eya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, medics and Hamas said.

Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that one of its militants was killed and two others wounded in an Israeli tank shells on them near the border between eastern Gaza city and Israel.

Medics at Shiffa hospital said that Bilal al-Sharabasi was killed and two others wounded, one seriously by the shrapnel of an Israeli tank shell that had directly targeted them.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had earlier threatened that Israel is closed more than anytime to carry out a tough large-scale military operation against Gaza militant groups, mainly Hamas movement.

Hamas movement's spokesman Fawzi Barhoum had said that the movement is seriously considering the Israeli threats to attack Gaza, adding "the only choice then will be resistance against an Israeli attack."

"Israel had got a green light from the United States to attack the Gaza Strip, and we would tell them that the only thing would remain for the Palestinians is to resist and fight," said Barhoum.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  I hope, that if Israel DOES attack Gaza, it's a "scorched earth" attack, leaving no man-made object whole. Start from the top and force them down through Rafah into Egypt, and keep them there. Refugee camps? Who cares. Most of the "palestinians" live in refugee camps inside Gaza and the West Bank anyway. Israel need to take special care to target the UN offices in Gaza during the attack, to catch the Hamass leadership.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/08/2008 14:53 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Arrested extortion suspect an alleged Abu Sayyaf member
THE Naval Forces Western Mindanao (Navforwem) is investigating the veracity of information that some of the arrested extortion suspects are members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits.

Navforwem chief Rear Admiral Emilio Marayag Jr. said they have three witnesses who informed them that at least one of the 15 arrested extortionists is an Abu Sayyaf bandit.

Marayag withheld the identity of the suspect pending the outcome of the investigation and further verification.

Task Force 61 operatives of Navforwem have arrested the suspects last May 30 while on patrol southwest of Sulade Island in the province of Sulu, south of Zamboanga City.

The suspects were intercepted aboard a boat bearing the initials Maritime Industry Authority-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Marina-Armm).

The arrest was a result of the intensified anti-piracy campaign of Navforwem following complaints from fishing firms that armed men are extorting money from fishermen while on the Sulu and Tawi-Tawi waters.

Marayag said they have filed last Tuesday a case of illegal possession of firearms and ammunitions against the arrested suspects.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 04:10 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Dupe entry: Top terrorist among six killed in southern Thailand
A man wanted over the killing of two Thai marines died in a gunfight during a bloody night that claimed five more lives in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, police said Saturday. The suspected terrorist insurgent, Alinsan Nikaji, was killed after 100 police and soldiers sealed off the village of Tanyong Limo as they searched for a militant hideout, police said. A 20-minute gunfight broke out after they found four suspected jihadis rebels inside a home in the village. Alinsan, 25, was killed during the battle.

Thai authorities had a 1,000,000 baht (30,300 dollar) reward out for his arrest over his role in a dramatic hostage-taking that ended in the beating deaths of two marines in this village in 2005. Two other men, each with 500,000 baht rewards on their heads, were also arrested, police said.

The hostage crisis in Tanyong Limo was one of the most dramatic incidents in the four-year insurgency that has claimed more than 3,300 lives in Thailand's southernmost provinces. Hundreds of veiled women and young children faced down heavily armed soldiers for 18 hours, while militants held two Thai marines hostage inside the village's mosque. The women only allowed the soldiers to enter the village after the marines had been beaten to death and the hostage takers had escaped.

The latest raid on Tanyong Limo came during a bloody night of attacks across the southern region, along the Malaysian border. Two Muslim construction workers, aged 24 and 29, were shot dead late Friday in an ambush in Songkhla province, while a 50-year-old Buddhist woman was killed in a drive-by shooting in nearby Yala, police said. A 48-year-old Muslim man was gunned down late Friday inside his home in Narathiwat province, while a 23-year-old Muslim rubber tapper was shot dead in the same province early Saturday.

I posted this story yesterday but somehow it seems to have disappeared during the day (I know it was there; I even checked the link). Somehow it seems to have disappeared, leaving a very unusual blank spot with some funny comments. If this one disappears today, I'll know that dark, sinister forces are causing wheels within wheels to prevent the fair citizens of Rantburg from hearing about this - and will act accordingly. ;-)
Posted by: ryuge || 06/08/2008 02:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My bad. I was having internet trouble and my connection dropped out while I was updating it with something similar to prose. So it got updated to nothing.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2008 4:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Not only did yesterday's blank spot get better comments than it would have had the article been there, I think it got more views too! LOL

Thanks for the fix, Fred. :-)
Posted by: ryuge || 06/08/2008 6:08 Comments || Top||

#3  :-) I found it pithy yet spell-binding. But I have a low attention spa...hey! what's that shiny thing over there...
Posted by: Frank G || 06/08/2008 13:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Frank, that "Shiny thing" is Britany Spears new Vinyl see-through Bra.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/08/2008 14:25 Comments || Top||

#5  No one does minimalism like nyuge.
Posted by: George Smiley || 06/08/2008 17:52 Comments || Top||

#6  I really don't want to see through Brittaney Spears' bra. I prefer more mature and less used women.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 06/08/2008 18:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Don't worry Deacon, It's just to see Frank whip his head around.(What was that "Snap"?)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/08/2008 21:48 Comments || Top||

#8  Owwww. Dammit. Again?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/08/2008 21:53 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
THe CounterInsurgency Library
Counterinsurgency has become a subject of great interest in the last few years, and this website is intended to bring together the literature on this vitally important subject in a single location. This is a collaborative website, in which anyone can enter bibliographical references. A user can � and is indeed encouraged to � annotate the entries. Visitors can also search by topic to find a list of articles about specific insurgencies or issues in counterinsurgency.
Posted by: 3dc || 06/08/2008 02:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Whata concept.
Posted by: George Smiley || 06/08/2008 17:54 Comments || Top||



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2008-06-08
  G8 energy chiefs meet as oil soars
Sat 2008-06-07
  U.S. court upholds Qaeda conviction in Bush murder plot
Fri 2008-06-06
  Guantanamo arraignment begins for five accused 9/11 plotters
Thu 2008-06-05
  Iraq police arrest five Shias wanted for over 720 murders
Wed 2008-06-04
  US-Iraq Negotiating Status Of Forces Agreement
Tue 2008-06-03
  Norway, Sweden close Islamabad embassies in wake of Danish kaboom
Mon 2008-06-02
  Darul-Uloom Deoband issues fatwa against terror
Sun 2008-06-01
  Australia ends combat operations in Iraq
Sat 2008-05-31
  100 Talibs killed in Farah
Fri 2008-05-30
  Suicide bomber kills 16, injures 18 near Mosul
Thu 2008-05-29
  Lebanese president reappoints prime minister
Wed 2008-05-28
  Yemen reports crushing Zaidi rebels near capital
Tue 2008-05-27
  Leb: 9 wounded in gunfight between pro-gov't, opposition supporters
Mon 2008-05-26
  Lebanon Elects Suleiman President as Hezbollah Gains
Sun 2008-05-25
  Iraq says Qaeda cleared from Mosul


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